Horace C. Gaffron: "... just incredible"

By guest author David RoachA few examples of good wholesome apple pie covers from the '30s and '40s for you. The artist is Horace C. Gaffron and in my opinion he’s just incredible – not too far behind Rockwell in sheer drawing ability.So why am I showing them to you? Because it turns out he’s a Brit! I’m pretty sure he was the first British artist to move to the US as a professional illustrator ( Robert Fawcett was a Brit too of course, but I don’t...

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A Three Investigators Art Mystery

Daniel Storm writes, "I'm working on an article on the artists of The Three Investigators children's detective series for Illustration Magazine. My article is finished and will appear in issue # 32 at the first of the year, but I'm still on the hunt for any remaining pieces of art that might still be out there. Is it possible for you to make a mention in your blog so I can see if any of your readers might know where some art is? I'm particularly...

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Bob Peak: "... when you turn the page it's all over."

In the 1960s the Famous Artists School released an updated version of its multi-binder correspondence course featuring new chapters by then-current illustration stars; among them, Bob Peak. In his chapter (entitled "Advanced line drawing and tonal painting") Peak writes:"The contemporary illustrator is an artist when he solves the problem of his client. The fine artist is an artist when he solves the creative problem he has set for himself. As...

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Bob Peak: "Don't be an artist 'from the wrist down'"

"In the beginning, during my first period in New York, I realized I was on the wrong track when I tried to shape my style to commercial demands. I studied the works of illustrators who had done this; they were very successful for a year or two and then dropped from the scene.""It was apparent to me that an artist should not spend years developing a style which, in terms of demand, would quickly pass. In other words, he should not be an artist...

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Highly Recommended

You may have noticed a new addition to the sidebar this week. Listed under the heading "Highly Recommended" are some terrific illustration/cartooning sites to which I am a contributor. If you have a few minutes I highly recommend you go check 'em out. ...

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Bob Peak: "The finest illustrators... work with ideas."

"Illustration is an interpretation of an idea.""This has nothing to do with technique - use of color, realism. These are mere tools.""It is not, as some people think, simply a matter of accurate rendering, although the artist has sometimes been reduced to a renderer. With the advent of photography, there was no longer a need for the artist to perform this function, and he shouldn't be expected to. The camera does a far better job.""The artist's...

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Bob Peak "Editorializes"

"Every commercial job has a moment's audience. When the page is turned, the moment is past." "The unfortunate aspect is the intention of the work. It's not even painted to last. Good commercial art doesn't pretend to be something it isn't." "Only a small portion - a very small portion - of the total will enter the realm of greatness.""There is a very tenuous line between commercial art and fine art.""I suppose the best way to define it is to...

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Bob Peak: "a mixture of idealism and solid practicality"

Dori Watson, writing in a September 1962 article in American Artist magazine, speaks about "the thorny problem of the dichotomy between fine art and commercial art [being] unsettling to practicing artists, as well as to the consumer and the art-collecting public." Based on some of the discussions in the comment sections of this blog I would say very little has changed in half a century.But back in 1962 there was no self-doubt or confusion on that...

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Charlie Allen on AF/VK

By guest author Charlie AllenNow... something we must get back to... the amazing, outstanding, unique, superb Pontiac ads by AF and VK.  Have already forgotten their names, but you know them. (Charlie is referring to the illustration team of Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman ~ L)I know TI has already blogged them... but really, these ads are the ultimate, the epitome, the most skilled automobile art that has ever been published.Pure, 'sock it...

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